I, Medusa by Ayana Gray

 

Summary (from the publisher): From New York Times bestselling author Ayana Gray comes a new kind of villain origin story, reimagining one of the most iconic monsters in Greek mythology as a provocative and powerful young heroine.

Meddy has spent her whole life as a footnote in someone else’s story. Out of place next to her beautiful, immortal sisters and her parents—both gods, albeit minor ones—she dreams of leaving her family’s island for a life of adventure. So when she catches the eye of the goddess Athena, who invites her to train as an esteemed priestess in her temple, Meddy leaps at the chance to see the world beyond her home.

In the colorful market streets of Athens and the clandestine chambers of the temple, Meddy flourishes in her role as Athena’s favored acolyte, getting her first tastes of purpose and power. But when she is noticed by another Olympian, Poseidon, the course of Meddy’s promising future is suddenly and irrevocably altered.

When her locs are transformed into snakes as punishment for a crime she did not commit, Medusa must embrace a new identity—not as a victim, but as a vigilante—and with it, the chance to write her own story as mortal, martyr, and myth.

Exploding with rage, heartbreak, and love, I, Medusa portrays a young woman caught in the crosscurrents between her heart’s deepest desires and the cruel, careless games the Olympian gods play.

Review: Thank you to NetGalley for an ARC!

I am always a sucker for a mythology retelling so was excited at the chance to read this one! In it, author Ayana Gray has imagined Medusa, known as Meddy, as the mortal daughter of two minor gods who has been raised on a small, unnamed island, along with her two older, immortal sisters. Eventually, she catches the eye of the goddess Athena and is invited to train as a priestess in her temple. Meddy is delighted at the chance to experience life outside of the island and is especially drawn to the streets of Athens. But her promising future in the temple is altered when she catches the eye of Poseidon. This shift in her fate eventually leads to her hair being transformed into snakes as punishment and she steps out of her role as a victim and into that of a woman pursuing vengeance. 

I had truly mixed feelings on this one to the point where I am not quite sure how to rate it. Some things that worked for me: 

- The author notes that Medusa stories have circulated for 2,000 years. For this story, she built upon the Roman poet Ovid's telling of her story from c. 8 C.E. 

- I love that the author has imagined Medusa as a woman of color. Athens of the time was an ethnically diverse city built on foreign trade, so this has historical precedent. Throughout the book, there are numerous references to her unique locs of hair. Caring for her hair is one way her sisters show love for her, she uses her hair during a test as an acolyte, and it's also cause for her to be looked down upon by other acolytes in the temple. This repeated emphasis on the nature of her hair sets up the plot beautifully for when it is transformed into a mass of snakes. In cursing Medusa, Athena takes something that made her unique and feel beautiful and turned it into a horror and for Medusa to be viewed as a monster by anyone who viewed her. 

- A huge theme of this book is feeling powerless. Medusa really grapples with the tension between exacting retribution over those who take advantage of the less powerful or practicing mercy. I don't think she ever really finds a perfect balance between justice and mercy, even at the conclusion of the novel. This honestly felt very realistic and in keeping with her character. Sometimes her rage at injustice gets the best of her, even if it comes from a good place. 

- I also appreciated the author's nuanced take on the way she represents assault. The men in this book are virtually uniformly awful. Some take what they want by brute force and others skillfully take advantage of a power dynamic. Theo, Medusa's childhood friend who is a slave of her family, is the only male that is good and kind in this book.

What didn't quite work for me: 

- Again, to go back to the men in this book. They're terrible (except for poor Theo!) As a result, Medusa casts off men in their entirety, even turning her back on the potential for a heterosexual relationship. I don't know! The sapphic twist through me for a loop. In some ways, it made sense for a woman who has seen such misery thanks to men to make this choice, but in other ways it frustrated me that she just gave up on men entirely. I guess I wanted to see some redemption for men in this book but was left with the takeaway that men are all evil, murderous rapists. 

- Something about the pacing of this felt off to me. Most of the book is spent at Athena's temple. I felt like thus most of the book is her spent studying and waiting to become something more rather than action. In the final chapters, we realize that only a few months have progressed from the beginning of the book until the end. 

- The ending of this just did not work for me. The author ended Medusa's story true to her legends but it's like the plot didn't quite line up with it?? It just felt very abrupt and out of left field. I also ended up feeling like her whole story was senseless and without meaning. 

- I would have liked more character development for virtually all the characters beyond Medusa. Her mother was fascinating! A lot is hinted it at with her backstory, but we never get the full story. I would read a whole book about her mom alone! The other children, the sea creatures, the banishment to the island - possibly the most intriguing character in this book but we learn so little. There is also a lot of talk about how close Medusa is with Theo, but we don't know much at all about him other than he is a slave and likes to whittle. I wanted more out of their friendship than I got. 

Stars: 3.5